The sun was shining once again for the sidecar teams as they took to the track for the second 11 lap race in Spa-Francorchamps.
As the lights went out again Bennie Streuer and Kevin Kolsch got the start they wanted into “La Source” but Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement were right beside them, side by side they hurtled down the hill, flat out, still side by side up “Eau Rouge” what a sight for the spectators seated in the newly erected grandstand. But right on their tails was Stephen Kershaw and Ryan Charlwood, with Markus Schlosser and Marcel Fries right with Kershaw and Charlwood. Like the leading pair, next up was Lukas Wyssen and Thomas Hofer with Ted and Vincent Peugeot side by side, but unfortunately for the Peugeot’s they had cooked their clutch from the start, they lost out on the climb up and over the top of “Eau Rouge”. Robert Biggs and Max Vasseur were next up a little distance back, a few bike lengths back from Biggs and Vasseur was Kevin Cable and Charlie Richardson. Cedric and Arnaud Pierard were next with Markus Schwegler and Ondrey Kopecky behind them. Rupert Archer and Steve Thomas were following with Philippe Le Bail and Serge Leveau on their tail with Claude and Cyrille Vinet next.
By lap two Schlosser and Fries had taken the lead and was starting to make a small gap on the perusing teams, but they were keeping pace and it was looking like Ellis and Clement wanted to stay with Schlosser/Fries but they had to get by a determined Streuer/Kolsch who were not wanting to give up their second place, but it was inevitable they had to give in to a fast charging Ellis and Clement, they got by and gave chase to Schlosser/Fries. Kershaw and Charlwood were now on the tail of Streuer and Kolsch, would this be like the race yesterday?
A big mover up the field by lap two was Archer and Thomas, they got in between Cable/Richardson and the Pierard brothers, this was going to be a race long battle which had the crowd on their feet with each lap into the last chicane onto the start finish straight, it was tight for three teams at times!
Another good battle further down the field was between Le Bail/Leveau and Vinet/Vinet this went on throughout the race.
Throughout the race it looked like Schlosser and Fries were on for the win but Ellis and Clement had other ideas, they plugged away and started to catch the leading pair. Behind them, Streuer and Kolsch had broken the tow to Kershaw and Charlwood, but the gap was too big to the leading pair for them to make any inroads.
Wyssen and Hofer had a good lead over the Peugeot’s who were struggling with their slipping clutch but managing to keep their machine going.
Like yesterday’s race it was to be a lonely race for Biggs and Vasseur but they were in a good sixth place, they did have a big moment though, at the last chicane, they went well wide with the chair wheel way off the ground, but Driver Biggs caught it and the team regrouped and continued, they lost a bit of time but there was no threat from any other team.
Half way through the race Ellis and Clement had caught and managed to pass Schlosser and Fries for the lead, but Schlosser/Fries were not letting them get away, they stuck to the tail of Ellis/Clement. On lap 7 it was all turnabout for the lead again, Schlosser/Fries had repassed Ellis/Clement, the two teams were in a right battle for the lead.
With 2 laps to go, Ellis and Clement had another go at Schlosser/Fries, they passed, but they knew Schlosser/Fries would be nipping their tails for the lead again. The last lap and the chequred flag at the ready, it was Ellis and Clement who took the win with Schlosser/ Fries only 0.321 behind in second.
Streuer and Kolsch took a well-deserved third place out on their own. Kershaw and Charlwood a good fourth place like the pair in front, out on their own.
Wyssen and Hofer took fifth place with no threats from the sixth place team of Peugeot/Peugeot, who had managed to get their machine to the end, by now with hardly any clutch left.
Biggs and Vasseur took a good seventh place, the team were happy with this.
The three way battle between Cable/Richardson, Archer/Thomas, and the Pierard brothers had now been whittled down to Cable/Richardson and Archer/Thomas on the last lap, the Pierard brothers had fallen back by 2 seconds. It was Cable and Richardson who got the better of Archer and Thomas for the eighth place, Archer/Thomas ninth with the Pierard brothers tenth.
Schwegler and Kopecky had a steady but lonely race, they took eleventh place, the team were happy with this.
Twelfth place went Le Bail and Leveau who got the better of Vinet/Vinet who were fourteenth.
Pierre Leguen and Leopold Rouby had a lonely race but were happy with their fifteenth place, a first time for the team racing at this level.
Philippe Gallerne and Jean-Philippe Bouchard took sixteenth place.
The championship moves on to the Pannonia Ring in Hungary in a couple of weeks’ time and then straight on to Grobnic in Croatia the following weekend.